Before I discuss the different paradigms guiding the quantitative and qualitative research streams and how they might or might not be in contention when it comes to MMR, it is important to first understand what we mean by the term “paradigm”. Broadly, paradigms can be defined as “shared belief systems that influence the kinds of knowledge researchers seek and how they interpret the evidence they collect” (Morgan, 2007, p. 50). A closer look though would reveal subtle differences in the ways in which the term “paradigm” has been understood and used to guide research. Morgan (2007) reviews four basic versions of the paradigm concept and explains how accepting one version over the other might persuade us to support the combination of paradigms and reject the assumption that paradigms guiding quantitative and qualitative research are fundamentally incompatible. Out of the four versions, the two that are most relevant to understanding the paradigm wars and its implications for MMR are: (1) paradigms as epistemological stances, and (2) paradigms as shared beliefs among members of a specialty area (Morgan, 2007).